Yet Another Scam Making the Rounds in Our Area

We've had listeners let us know of yet another scam in our area, one that appears to be coming from a seemingly legitimate source, Microsoft.

Many people have received calls from people claiming to be representatives for Microsoft. The caller tells the person that there's something wrong with their computer, that since Microsoft makes Windows, they can see there's something wrong. They tell person to open Internet Explorer on their computer, and browse to a website that they read to them over the phone, so that they can take remote control of the computer and fix the problem.

We spoke with Microsoft this afternoon, who told us representatives do not make outgoing calls to customers for issues like this, and that this scam has been reported all over the United States.

They advised that if you get a call from someone claiming to be a representative for Microsoft, not to follow the instructions given or go to the website you're asked so they can "check your computer". The link will likely infect your system, and if you give the caller your financial information (credit/debit or bank account numbers) it could cost you financially.

It's likely, according to the Microsoft rep we spoke to, that this scam will change to another company's name soon (like Firefox or Google), with the same type of premise. The best practice is to hang up, and not go to the web address they give.